BLUES UNDERGROUND - IT’S BEEN SO LONG

IT’S BEEN SO LONG

BLUES UNDERGROUND

SONGWRITER: YOAV LANDAU

COUNTRY: U. S. A.

ALBUM: ON MY WAY BACK HOME

GENRE: BLUES

LABEL: DEL-FI RECORDS

YEAR: 1995

 

           The "Memphis Soul" of Stax Records' mid-Sixties sound has long been recognized by the chunky portions of Hammond organ and wry guitar licks served up by their legendary studio house band, Booker T. & The MG's, with a little soul dressing of Otis Redding on the side.

             Likewise, the twin themes of exile and poverty (and perhaps the poor treatment of men by their big-legged women) in Mississippi Delta Blues runs deep and from as many sources as the rivers that flow into the region itself. From Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, and Little Milton, to the royal highness of guitarists Albert and B.B. King, the very essence of the Delta sound begs the curious question: "Was there something in the water?"

      These two Southern sources are readily apparent in the grooves of the disc you're now listening to. Maybe "you don't miss your water till the well runs dry" but there's no chance of that with Blues Underground's generous flood of great songs. Listen to the deep, dark-hued voice of Roy Jones, who hails from the banks of the Mississippi river and Humphrey, Arkansas, sixty close miles from Memphis and the birthplace of these mighty sounds. Listen to the way he makes the woeful "St. James Infirmary" his own, or the way he breaks your heart with the group's self-penned title track "On My Way Back Home," and you'll hear what a sobering effect his liquid vocals have. There's a sense that he's lived the hard luck of "Born Under A Bad sign" one minute, then convincing us he means it when he tells us "The Thrill Is Gone" the next… and all this despite his incredible success on Broadway in the Eighties (where he may have been influenced as much by Paul Robeson as anyone else). That's the high watermark of his talent, to make us believe in the Blues he sings.

           Now, add to this chilling cocktail the thick, oozing Hammond organ of Walt Thompson, the rippling bass lines of Michael Sunday, and the shimmering ice-blue rhythms of Dan Bachar's Fender guitar, and you have a potent drink, refreshing and cool. Like a subterranean river bubbling just below the surface, this is the sound of the Underground. (Bryan Thomas)

I don't know what I was thinking

Leaving my child behind

Now I suffer the curse and now I am blind

With all this anger, guilt and sadness

Coming to haunt me forever

I can't wait for the cliff at the end of the river

 

Is this revenge I am seeking?

Or seeking someone to avenge me?

Stuck in my own paradox, I wanna set myself free

Maybe I should chase and find

Before they'll try to stop it

It won't be long before I'll become a puppet

 

It's been so long

Since I last have seen my son lost to this monster

To the man behind the slaughter

Since you've been gone

I've been singing this stupid song so I could ponder

The sanity of your mother

 

I wish I lived in the present

With the gift of my past mistakes

But the future keeps luring in like a pack of snakes

Your sweet little eyes, your little smile is all I remember

Those fuzzy memories mess with my temper

 

Justification is killing me

But killing isn't justified

What happened to my son? I'm terrified

It lingers in my mind

And the thought keeps on getting bigger

I'm sorry my sweet baby, I wish I've been there

 

It's been so long

Since I last have seen my son lost to this monster

To the man behind the slaughter

Since you've been gone

I've been singing this stupid song so I could ponder

The sanity of your mother.